Milky eyed Angels and Rams

[lissajo64]

I am having trouble with my 55 gallon aquarium. I have lost some fish and now my angel and 2 Rams have whitish eyes. I did some research and saw where Melafix was the recommended treatment so I have been dosing for about 4 days and seeing no improvement. The tank has been running for about 5 months now. Water test showed the nitrate just a bit high, so I have been doing more frequent water changes. Any advice is appreciated!


Melissa

 

[Brookster123]

is that coral? How often you change water??

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[lissajo64]

Yes and at least 1x per week on water changes.


Melissa

 

[Brookster123]

So you have a ton of coral in a fresh water tank??

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[Jmunroe]

How much water are you changing at a time? Rams are known to have notoriously bad genetics and they are also not the easiest to keep. I find them more sensitive to water than discus. The coral you have in there I believe will also produce a water chemistry that is the opposite of what you want. It will create hard water with a high pH and your fish prefer low pH and soft acidic water. In fact I use blackwater created by different methods when I keep Rams.

 

[lissajo64]

I do a 25 to 30% change each time and treat the water wi conditioner. Ph has been 7.5-8. I am using testing strips regularly but heating that they aren't as accurate I bought a Master test kit which will be arriving in the mail tomorrow. I will try taking the corals out and doing another water change. I have lost 3 Angels over the past month already and I don't wants to to lose any more fish! Thanks for your advice.


Melissa

 

[Brookster123]

Yah, the coral Jacks the ph up, wouldn't be surprised if the oh was closer to 9. Cloud eye can be a side effect of fluctuating ph.. have you tested the ph of your tap?

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[lissajo64]

Just tested my tap water and it is high, 8.5 - 9. I also have a bottle of stress coat water conditioner coming. Will that help lower it?


Melissa

 

[lissajo64]

What do you recommend for ph for these fish? The Dalmation mollies I have seem perfectly happy but I really want to be successful with Angels.


Melissa

 

[Brookster123]

Your tap will most likely gas off to around 7.6. Have you tested the nitrates in the main tank? You'd be best in researching the specific needs of cichlids such as rams and angels. While they can tolerate some parameters, what you're providing will not work.. you could keep other cichlids in that tank.. just not what you have..remove all the coral, all of it.. do a few 50% wc's, invest in some prime dechlorinator. Feed quality foods..

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[lissajo64]

Nitrates have been a bit high for my tank at between 20 and 40 ppm. I will be glad to get my master test kit tomorrow so I can compare the results. I will go ahead and do a 50% water change and pick up some prime.


Melissa

 

[Brookster123]

And....??

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[Angela1108]

Unless you remove the coral even doing a lot of water changes probably won't help.


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[lissajo64]

Just did the 50% water change, all coral is removed. Will have to see if the fish recover. Appreciate all of the advice. I have tried to research as much as possible, but these issues were not things I expected.


Melissa

 

[lissajo64]

What I am seeing is 6 to 7 being optimum ph for Angels, is that correct?


Melissa

 

[lissajo64]

5 to 6 for Rams? Will prime help me achieve that?


Melissa

 

[Angela1108]

Prime will not change ph. Fighting ph is honestly a losing battle. If you try jt will often just make the water fluctuate.

Prime takes out chlorine/chloramine from tap water and temporarily makes ammonia and nitrite safe by changing its form


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